CELstart is an environment for making games using scripting alone (CEL's [[XML script]] or Python). Games are distributed in self-contained packages (so-called ''celzips'') and can be played by the user by simply opening them - whether he is on Windows, Linux or MacOS/X.

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CELstart is an environment for making games using scripting alone (CEL's [[XML script]] or Python). Games are distributed in self-contained packages (so-called ''celzips'') and can be played by the user by simply opening them - whether the user is on Windows, Linux or MacOS/X.

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While CELstart is included with CEL you can download standalone binaries, so you need neither Crystal Space or CEL (which are included in the binary). You don't even need a C++ compiler to make games for CELstart.

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While '''CELstart is included with CEL''' you can download standalone binaries, so you need neither Crystal Space or CEL (which are included in the binary). You don't even need a C++ compiler to make games for CELstart.

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One popular way to make CELstart applications is with [http://www.blender.org Blender] through the [http://b2cs.delcorp.org/ blender2crystal script]. It is possible to make full CELstart games from within Blender.

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One popular way to make CELstart applications is with [http://www.blender.org Blender] through the [http://leapingcat.org/blender2crystal/index.php/Main_Page blender2crystal script]. It is possible to make full CELstart games from within Blender.

=Documentation=

=Documentation=

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You can find more information about '''CELStart''' and tools to utilize it on the [http://b2cs.delcorp.org/index.php/Main_Page blender2crystal home page] and in the [http://cel.crystalspace3d.org/cel/docs/online/manual/AppCelstart.html#0 CEL manual]. Start by downloading blender2crystal and don't forget to have a look at the [http://b2cs.delcorp.org/index.php/Documentation#Tutorials tutorials] on this page.

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You can find more information about '''CELStart''' and tools to utilize it on the [http://leapingcat.org/blender2crystal/index.php/Main_Page blender2crystal home page] and in the [http://cel.crystalspace3d.org/cel/docs/online/manual/AppCelstart.html#0 CEL manual]. Start by downloading blender2crystal and don't forget to have a look at the [http://leapingcat.org/blender2crystal/index.php/Documentation#Tutorials documentation and tutorials] on this page.

=Downloads=

=Downloads=

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==Latest Release (1.0.1)==

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== Current Release (1.4.0)==

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These are contributed (unofficial, unsupported) builds for CELStart from 1.4.0 release.<br/>

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Also include cslight, lighter2, walktest, basemapgen, docconv and bootstrap utilities (viewmesh &amp; python CEGUI support included only in Linux build).

* [http://0install.net/ 0install] is a system to automatically download and update software to your computer. [http://0install.net/injector.html Follow the instructions on the 0install homepage] to set it up. (Note x86_64 users: you need a very recent version of 0install, 0.35 or newer, to run the package. That means you may have to install from source on some distros.) Once this is done follow the instructions from the [http://crystalspace3d.org/0install/celstart-launcher-1.4.xml CELstart link above] to run it.

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==Previous Release (1.2.1)==

To get started using CELstart download one of the following binaries:

To get started using CELstart download one of the following binaries:

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* [http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/celstart-v7-win32.zip CELstart Binary for Windows V7 (20 megs)]: download and extract to some directory. No other installation required.

'''Important Note:''' Version 3 of CELstart is the first one that works for python scripts. However there is still a limitation. You have to manually set the PYTHONPATH environment variable to point to the zip file (i.e. not the extracted zip file, just the zip file itself) that you want to run. We will try to fix this limitation in the future.

'''Important Note:''' To run celstart with python support you have to manually set the PYTHONPATH environment variable to point to the zip file (i.e. not the extracted zip file, just the zip file itself) that you want to run. We will try to fix this limitation in the future.

Here are a few example demos for CELstart. Just download these archives and put them (unextracted!) in the current directory (from where you'll start CELstart) or else in the directory where you extracted CELstart.

Here are a few example demos for CELstart. Just download these archives and put them (unextracted!) in the current directory (from where you'll start CELstart) or else in the directory where you extracted CELstart.

===ShaderTest===

===ShaderTest===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=shadertest.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/shadertest.celzip Download ShaderTest (2.5 megs)]|text=This is a small demo level showing several shaders in action (parallax, specular, bumpmap, glow, ...). Just run it and move around (use the arrow-keys or mousemove). Note that to actually see the shaders in full glory, you need a 3D card that can handle shader fragment programs (most modern 3D cards can do this). If your card cannot handle it, then the shaders will automatically fallback to regular bumpmapping, which is not as nice to look at.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=shadertest.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/shadertest.celzip Download ShaderTest] (2.5 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2ic1q_shadertest Video]|text=This is a small demo level showing several shaders in action (parallax, specular, bumpmap, glow, ...). Just run it and move around (use the arrow-keys or mousemove). Note that to actually see the shaders in full glory, you need a 3D card that can handle shader fragment programs (most modern 3D cards can do this). If your card cannot handle it, then the shaders will automatically fallback to regular bumpmapping, which is not as nice to look at.}}

===ParticleTest===

===ParticleTest===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=xmlparticles.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/xmlparticles.celzip Download XMLParticles (0.12 megs)]|text=This is a small demo level showing several particle systems in action. Just run it and move around (using arrows or mousemove). A lot more effects are possible using particles, these are just examples. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=xmlparticles.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/xmlparticles.celzip Download XMLParticles] (0.12 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2ic5z_particletest Video]|text=This is a small demo level showing several particle systems in action. Just run it and move around. A lot more effects are possible with particles. These are just examples, to show off what Crystal Space is capable of. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.}}

===Castle===

===Castle===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=castle.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/castle.celzip Download Castle (3.4 megs)]|text=Here you see the castle level from Anders Wisur (indoor version). Just run it and move around (using arrows or mousemove). Note that this level uses parallax shaders. If your hardware cannot handle this then Crystal Space will automatically switch to bumpmapping. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=castle.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/castle.celzip Download Castle] (3.4 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2ibut_castle Video]|text=Here you see the castle level from Anders Wisur (indoor version). Just run it and move around. Note that this level uses parallax shaders. If your hardware cannot handle this, then Crystal Space will automatically switch to bumpmapping. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.}}

===Bouncy===

===Bouncy===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=bouncy.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/bouncy.celzip Download Bouncy (1.3 megs)]|text=Bouncy is a small demo written in XML. It features physics (using ODE). It resembles a pinball game a bit except that you can edit the level. It is certainly not a finished game but it can be used as the basis for one.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=bouncy.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/bouncy.celzip Download Bouncy] (1.3 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2ic7k_bouncy Video]|text=Bouncy is a small demo written in XML. It features physics (using ODE). It resembles a pinball game a bit except that you can edit the level. It is certainly not a finished game but it can be used as the basis for one.}}

===CrystalDash===

===CrystalDash===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=crystaldash.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/crystaldash.celzip Download CrystalDash (0.2 megs)]|text=CrystalDash is a boulderdash clone written in XML. This is an example of a 2D game done using CelStart. It features a built-in level editor, sound, and a lot of nice objects to use in the levels. However it is not finished. You cannot die yet for example.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=crystaldash.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/crystaldash.celzip Download CrystalDash] (0.2 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2icai_crystaldash Video]|text=CrystalDash is a boulderdash clone written in XML. This is an example of a 2D game done using CelStart. It features a built-in level editor, sound, and a lot of nice objects to use in the levels. However it is not finished. You cannot die yet for example.}}

===PhysicsDemo===

===PhysicsDemo===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=physicsdemo.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/physicsdemo.celzip Download PhysicsDemo (1 megs)]|text=PhysicsDemo is a simple demonstration of physics (using ODE) written in XML. Just collide the actor (a ball) against the objects in the scene to make them fall over. Note: this demo uses parallax shader and may run slower on older hardware due to that.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=physicsdemo.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/physicsdemo.celzip Download PhysicsDemo] (1 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/Elalyse/video/x2ic3q_physicsdemo Video]|text=PhysicsDemo is a simple demonstration of physics (using ODE) written in XML. Just collide the actor (a ball) against the objects in the scene to make them fall over. Note: this demo uses parallax shader and may run slower on older hardware due to that.}}

===CelDemo===

===CelDemo===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=celdemo.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/celdemo.celzip Download CelDemo (7.8 megs)]|text=CelDemo is the old celdemo level featuring automatic doors, moving platforms, lights you can turn on and off and some other things. This level is a good demonstration of the kind of logic you can do with Crystal Entity Layer. However it is a bit dated now and doesn't use any of the more modern shaders.}}

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{{ImageTextRight|image=celdemo.jpg|url=[http://{{CSSITE}}/downloads/celstart/celdemo.celzip Download CelDemo] (7.8 megs) - [http://www.dailymotion.com/related/4214807/video/x2icl4_celdemo_creation Video]|text=CelDemo is the old celdemo level featuring automatic doors, moving platforms, lights you can turn on and off and some other things. This level is a good demonstration of the kind of logic you can do with Crystal Entity Layer. However it is a bit dated now and doesn't use any of the more modern shaders.}}

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===Jammer - The Gardener===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=jammer.jpg|url=[http://downloads.sourceforge.net/jammers/Jammer-TheGardener-1.0.celzip Download (17 megs)]|text=Live the life of a aspiring gardener on his quest through several highly dynamic environments spanning the world of Jammer T. The aim of the game is to fight off slugs and wasps that are intent on attacking your garden using the colour coded weapons.

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'''Important Note:''' Requires CEL trunk, or you just have to wait until the next celstart release.}}

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==Python Based Example Demos/Games==

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Here is a small demo using python with CELstart. You need to download and install Python 2.4.x yourself. To run the demo you must set the enviroment variable PYTHONPATH to the location/file of the demo, eg. "C:\celstart\PyCelStartDemo.celzip". Now you can start "celstart" and run the demo.

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===PyCelStartDemo===

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{{ImageTextRight|image=pycelstartdemo.jpg|url=[http://carletronicon.googlepages.com/pycelstartdemo.celzip Download PyCelStartDemo (1.8 megs)]|text=This is a small python based demo level; more functionality to be added at some point.}}

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(Note: the latest version of CELstart (1.2) doesn't like some of my code / xml; most is just warnings that I'm using deprecated functions but there's also a keyword in my world that has been removed; will post updated version as soon as I have a chance to test things running under windows)

Introduction

CELstart is an environment for making games using scripting alone (CEL's XML script or Python). Games are distributed in self-contained packages (so-called celzips) and can be played by the user by simply opening them - whether the user is on Windows, Linux or MacOS/X.

While CELstart is included with CEL you can download standalone binaries, so you need neither Crystal Space or CEL (which are included in the binary). You don't even need a C++ compiler to make games for CELstart.

One popular way to make CELstart applications is with Blender through the blender2crystal script. It is possible to make full CELstart games from within Blender.

Downloads

Current Release (1.4.0)

These are contributed (unofficial, unsupported) builds for CELStart from 1.4.0 release.
Also include cslight, lighter2, walktest, basemapgen, docconv and bootstrap utilities (viewmesh & python CEGUI support included only in Linux build).

Preview for next release (1.9dev)

These are contributed (unofficial, unsupported) builds for CELStart from trunk/1.9 SVN branch.
Also include lighter2, walktest, basemapgen, docconv and bootstrap utilities (viewmesh & python CEGUI support included only in Linux build).

0install is a system to automatically download and update software to your computer. Follow the instructions on the 0install homepage to set it up. (Note x86_64 users: you need a very recent version of 0install, 0.35 or newer, to run the package. That means you may have to install from source on some distros.) Once this is done follow the instructions from the CELstart link above to run it.

Important Note: To run celstart with python support you have to manually set the PYTHONPATH environment variable to point to the zip file (i.e. not the extracted zip file, just the zip file itself) that you want to run. We will try to fix this limitation in the future.

1.0.1

Xml Based Example Demos/Games

Here are a few example demos for CELstart. Just download these archives and put them (unextracted!) in the current directory (from where you'll start CELstart) or else in the directory where you extracted CELstart.

ShaderTest

This is a small demo level showing several shaders in action (parallax, specular, bumpmap, glow, ...). Just run it and move around (use the arrow-keys or mousemove). Note that to actually see the shaders in full glory, you need a 3D card that can handle shader fragment programs (most modern 3D cards can do this). If your card cannot handle it, then the shaders will automatically fallback to regular bumpmapping, which is not as nice to look at.

ParticleTest

This is a small demo level showing several particle systems in action. Just run it and move around. A lot more effects are possible with particles. These are just examples, to show off what Crystal Space is capable of. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.

Castle

Here you see the castle level from Anders Wisur (indoor version). Just run it and move around. Note that this level uses parallax shaders. If your hardware cannot handle this, then Crystal Space will automatically switch to bumpmapping. Warning: this demo requires at least celstart version 4.

Bouncy

Bouncy is a small demo written in XML. It features physics (using ODE). It resembles a pinball game a bit except that you can edit the level. It is certainly not a finished game but it can be used as the basis for one.

CrystalDash

CrystalDash is a boulderdash clone written in XML. This is an example of a 2D game done using CelStart. It features a built-in level editor, sound, and a lot of nice objects to use in the levels. However it is not finished. You cannot die yet for example.

PhysicsDemo

PhysicsDemo is a simple demonstration of physics (using ODE) written in XML. Just collide the actor (a ball) against the objects in the scene to make them fall over. Note: this demo uses parallax shader and may run slower on older hardware due to that.

CelDemo

CelDemo is the old celdemo level featuring automatic doors, moving platforms, lights you can turn on and off and some other things. This level is a good demonstration of the kind of logic you can do with Crystal Entity Layer. However it is a bit dated now and doesn't use any of the more modern shaders.

Jammer - The Gardener

Live the life of a aspiring gardener on his quest through several highly dynamic environments spanning the world of Jammer T. The aim of the game is to fight off slugs and wasps that are intent on attacking your garden using the colour coded weapons.

Important Note: Requires CEL trunk, or you just have to wait until the next celstart release.
Download (17 megs)

Python Based Example Demos/Games

Here is a small demo using python with CELstart. You need to download and install Python 2.4.x yourself. To run the demo you must set the enviroment variable PYTHONPATH to the location/file of the demo, eg. "C:\celstart\PyCelStartDemo.celzip". Now you can start "celstart" and run the demo.

PyCelStartDemo

(Note: the latest version of CELstart (1.2) doesn't like some of my code / xml; most is just warnings that I'm using deprecated functions but there's also a keyword in my world that has been removed; will post updated version as soon as I have a chance to test things running under windows)